Hive Trapdoor
Hive Trapdoor records its history so we know it was one of the groups sent out from Hive Chrysalis by the Cult of Change. They followed a changeling that had smaller wings and weaker eyesight but had grown a small set of claws, ending up in the lower west area of Equestria. Just above the mountains that separated the lush west coast from the dessert south, the water from the sea and the humidity from the dessert resulted in deep fields of soft, almost clay like dirt. While grass and reeds grow in big numbers the heat makes trees a rare sight. Originally they were a surface hive who lived in mud huts but in time they managed to construct a hive underground. It was a long process however as tunnels were easily collapsed though it did have the major advantage of being soft enough for any cave in to cause no casualties as those inside when the ceiling fell found themselves almost swimming in goopy mud, simply digging or swimming their way out.
How they ended up constructing a series of tunnels, let alone good ones are a guarded secret that many hives and diamond dogs have attempted to obtain. They started out as a tribal society but started to write and record after the construction of the main hive. In time those of Hive Trapdoor became a little shorter than your average changelings, wings tiny things that are incapable of flight, much shorter fangs, muddy brown eyes and long thick claws they use for digging. While almost all changelings dig they tend to do so in hard materials, were a cave in is rare. For those of Hive Trapdoor cave ins are very common and while a cave in for normal changelings can take days to clear out, with their large claws these changelings can clear a tunnel in less than an hour. They have yet to completely lose their ability to transform but they still suffer from a major penalty. They are unable to change their claws so often they have to take the forms of diamond dogs or timber wolves, creatures that had long claws to begin with.
Started from when they were still a tribal society, some of the changelings gain love by digging holes in the muck and covering the top with weeds and sticks. Mud fish and insects swim under the surface and many ponies head there to spear fish and Changelings like to spring out from their holes when they get too close and drag them under, sucking them dry before throwing what's left out like an empty bottle for these prey to stumble back into town. Ponies consider them a major annoyance especially since this is how many of them get their food and if taken in the morning that means a whole day they could be hunting is used to recover from the energy drain. They have no interests in invading or even hurting the ponies however not risking their food source on any silly scheme. They get enough love to survive and that’s enough for them.
Now what’s different from the previous hives is that this one actually has two offshoots that live separately but are still connected to the mind and serve the queen. The first originated after they finished the main hive. Some changelings felt that they had connected to their land by living on it and burying “Under its skin” was a grave insult. This feeling was not shared by the rest of the hive. They saw it as a chance to be put on equal footing with the major hives, to live like civilized beings instead of a tribe. The queen decided they would be allowed to live their own way, with their own land, so long as they stayed loyal to her. They set up their new village to the east on more solid ground though they still went to the damp soft fields to hunt. These tribals paint their body with damp clay every day and it’s a tradition that if one ever skipped this, they were giving up their way of life though this law was a little flexible, those few who became free but wanted to keep their heritage do the marking with mud or even house paint. They have an oral history but it’s not as rich or mysterious as, let’s say, Hive Ash Raiders since they still have access to the vast records of the main hive, free to visit at any times. In fact young changelings from the main hive are free to join this tribal group, allowing them to keep their numbers up. This group is not big at all only a couple dozen at any given time but unlike the main hive are peaceful and do not have to deal with war. Those of the main hive tend to call these changelings “The Uncivilized Ones” though this is more as a matter of fact name and not some insult like it sounds.
The second offshoot occurred about a hundred and twenty years ago. The queen at the time saw how the hive was nowhere near as large or as powerful as the big hives like Chrysalis or Frost Fang and blamed it on their land. There was no material for weapons or armor besides leather which was what their soldier wore and apart from paintings there was nothing to use to construct statues or architecture. She felt they needed to expand but needed new lands to do so. She oversaw about a third of the hive moving into the mountains themselves digging deep into the rock in a bid to find materials. This new construct, known as the Outpost, became a military and mining base. Digging deep into the rock they come out with iron, platinum and a few diamonds. In time, the outpost was changed to look more like a temple or fortress from the outside, and while armor is still rare it’s now worn by officers as opposed to everyone wearing leather.
Relation wise they have little contact with most hives though the Uncivilized Ones do have a tribal wide dinner with Hive Ash Raiders every two years. Those hives that do have contact with regularly are not on best of terms. Waging war on a whole hive over how to build tunnels better is a silly idea…Sending special teams in to steal it on the other hand is different not to mention diamond dogs aren’t known from staying their hand when they want something and Hive Trapdoor must react accordingly. Most of the time the hive usually spots threats as they are coming though the fields, from there digging a serious of trapdoors in the direction the force is heading and using sound or flashes of light, slowly distract members of the force leading them away only to be grabbed by a changeling and dragged into their hole never to be seen again. Once the invader catches on and choose to continue they simply dig a giant trapdoor, wait till they're underneath and collapse it stunning the foe as soldiers rush in and attack.
The Uncivilized Ones seem to have no issues. Attackers have learnt to tell the difference between the two groups and how one only has fish to offer. Those living in the Outpost however were constantly under attack as they ended up sharing the mountain with a guild of diamond dogs, having been there for centuries. They have fought ever since the mine opened and it’s common for soldier and even the odd tribal to be dragged away from their life to act as extra guards in the caves.
Religion wise the Uncivilized Ones believe in the earth farther, a simple embodiment of nature common amongst tribal societies. Not much to say as once you hear about one group worshiping nature, you hear them all. The main hive however actually believes in three different gods. Vermuta, goddess of the sea, Sindri, god of the mountain and Eliza, goddess of the field. They believe that their gods are just three of dozens maybe even thousands and that a lot of other religions aren’t wrong per say its followers just worship a different god. This leaves them very open minded and allow its member to accept other beliefs as their own. The story goes that when creation was made Vermuta and Sindri settled down on the west coast of Equestria. At first both God and Goddess were ok with company but as time went on each started to get on the others nerve, Vermuta the soft and kind soul but with a monster’s rage and the hard cold Sindri, firm but patient. Eventually both went to war against the other, the land area being flooded by sea water as earthquakes churned the soil. Finally when both gods rage passed they had accomplished nothing, but their conflicted had turned what was once generic grassland into its current state and from the ground grew Eliza. Putting aside their differences for their new surprise daughter the three enjoy an uneasy family life.
Those of the hive worship them as one would worship the Olympians, beings that gives favors and protection to those who worship but do not consider the changeling hive as a whole their responsibility. Most changelings tend to worship only one of the three, those who spend most of their time mining or underground Sindri, those who spend their time on the coast or at sea Vermuta and those hunting or gathering Eliza. There are many legends of a changeling or even other mortal races being chosen as a champion of a god before being sent out to do some amazing feat or save the world, along with ancient relics and weapons blessed by the gods themselves that have amazing power. Most of these are lost but a handful of relics have been recovered and stored in each god’s respected temple away from the public eye. The changelings of Hive Trapdoor are little threat to anyone so long as they stay away from their land but any entering without permission will find themselves with a speared ribcage.
Hive Honeycomb
“The Honeycomb Hive is known to prefer hot and humid rain forests. In contrast to other hives they don’t necessarily build their lair underground, but may simply hollow out trees. They are less actively aggressive than other hives (of which the Chrysalis Hive is the most aggressive) and more seldom venture outside their designated area. Their favorite method of trapping creatures is to disguise themselves as dancing females and to lure males into their traps. Those are especially sticky since the hive has an affinity for sweet nectar - and blood. They usually wait for their target to weaken inside the trap, so they can more easily apply hypnosis spells. If they are not outside dancing and creature walks into a trap all by its own, it may take a worker weeks to notice it, which usually leaves a lot of creatures to die in the humid heat.
Their queen, Ambrosia, is quite curious and rather playful, but often will harm her victims that way cause she has no concept of, and doesn't care about their natural limits. Some ponies say she is rather beautiful - for a changeling.” Time Share, changeling specialist.
Hive Honeycomb is a rather tricky hive to dissect mainly because while they offer little threat, they are at the same time the most dangerous hive out there. Their history is somewhat elusive, using tree paintings and markings to tell legends and stories. What we do know is this hive don’t seem to be an offshoot of Hive Chrysalis due to the share distance of which they would have had to travel, living in the jungle areas of south east Equestria. They seem to worship some kind of centipede god though this does not take up a huge part of their culture, with a handful acting as shamans and a majority not even bothering to worship her. They are at face value seemingly like they have the best deal biological wise.
They have the same abilities as the pure Chrysalis but also have the ability to produce a toxic honey, can make their skin sticky on command and each and every one has hypnosis ability on par with a queen. They do however have one huge issue, their numbers are far lower than other hives, breeding being slow and difficult. Today they number only a few hundred changelings though at their peak they had just about nine hundred changelings despite having three hives under the same banner. This means they value their own lives as well as the lives of each other much higher than most changelings. In order to maintain their hives with such low numbers they turn to husks.
Now one of the biggest myths is that all changeling hives use husks, ponies that have had every inch of love sucked right out of them turning into zombie like slaves to do their masters bidding, eventually being turned into changelings themselves. This is MASSIVELY false. If changelings did indeed have the power to turn ponies into zombie slaves then why not just form a zombie army and take on Equestria? More than that relying on other ponies to transform as an act of breading is rather stupid to be honest. Sure ponies like to scare themselves at the idea of becoming the monster under the bed but if they did have to steal ponies to breed they would have to capture whole towns and villages in order to keep up with demands and with the hundreds of hives all the ponies would be swallowed up in less than a year! Not to mention when a hive needs to lay low or isolate themselves there would be no way to replace losses. One could argue they do it along with normal breeding, but the time and resources needed to turn a pony into a changeling would just be too impractical, if possible at all.
However, there are a handful of hive that DO use them with Hive Honeycomb the most well-known due to their access to huge numbers since they need them in order to get anything done. They are also one of the few hives that throw away the act of tunneling altogether instead hollowing out a series of trees in a location using their honey as concrete to stick branches together and form bridges. Each tree is separated into different jobs such as holding eggs, beds, husk stables etc. One could easily compare it to a normal hive just above ground instead of below.
Hive Honeycomb has, sadly, a violet past, quite odd considering the hive hasn’t showed any aggression outside the jungle. About 230 years ago the hive had a population boom, at least compared to their usual numbers and believed the best way to keep this boom going was to gain more husks. At the time there were far more husks then there are now thanks to treasure hunters looking for temples after one was discovered on the edge of the jungle with some gold left over from looters. Eventually people gave up on this but not before most of them followed seductive dancers into the darkest parts of the jungle never to be seen again. It was believed by the queen that the rise in population was because with so many husks doing jobs for the changelings besides hunting they were free to do whatever they wanted and this time was used to further relationships. As such she set up an expansion of two addition hives that would cover different parts of the jungle to gain more husks which in turn would result in more free time and then more breeding. One hive was built into giant tree, such creations rare in the world. It was previously occupied by nature worshiping pony tribals but they were wiped out. The second hive was set up to the south towards the mountain range, this area being the territory of jungle dogs. Think tribal diamond dogs who forgo their gem lust for spider lust, riding and worshiping giant jungle arachnids which are far more feral and animalistic than the intelligent cave verity.
Now this might be a good time to point out how hive expansions work. Whether it be space or population problem, for defensive or economic reasons, some hives expand into a number of hives. This is why it’s a bit complicated learning about these multi hive hives as you can see from this description alone. A group that follow a single queen and hive mind IS a hive, but the homes of these changelings are also called a hive, so hives can have any number of hives…Confused yet? Anyway, what these hives are called depends on the hive itself. As in, previously hive Honeycomb called its three hives North Hive, South Hive and Capital Hive (inventive lot aren’t they?). Back on topic the north hive was much closer to the jungles borders and this started to get the attention of local pony villages. Before, only those who delved deep into the jungle were taken away but now they can’t even get water from the river without some exotic dancer popping up. In time their anger grew and they formed a militia with the plan of culling the changelings, hoping it would warn them away from their towns. At first hive honeycomb didn’t think anything of it, just set up some dancer and drag the inexperienced peasants away.
What they didn’t count on was the mob pooling their bits to hire a series of mercenaries to train them and act as a spearhead for their force, including a professional changeling hunter. When the hunts were done, three dozen changelings were killed which might not seem that many compared to the thousands and thousands of Chrysalis, but to Honeycomb it was as if they killed hundreds. Enraged, they didn’t even wait for the queen to respond to the incident before they used their husks to attack the villages. It is unknown how the queen would have reacted, she was forward thinking but loved her subjects and the death of so many would not have gone down well with her. It doesn’t matter now as towns found themselves suffering from a zombie invasion, family barricading their houses, ponies being dragged screaming back into the jungle to be converted, even the royal guard outpost was overrun. Sadly, this was a horrible mistake on the changeling’s part as it would result in a MASSIVE retaliation.
Royal guards, militia, even a few noble’s men at arms joined together and marched in on a counter attack starting the short Honeycomb War. Retaking the villages were easy, they set up a defensive line and let the husks throw themselves onto swords and spears. The jungle fighting however was a mess. The heat and insects made even marching in the heavy armor painful with husks rising out of swamps and from atop treetops, dancers slowly and silently pulling away men from the main line into the darkness. Suffering from big casualties they still marched on the hive besieging the tree. Their plan was to starve the changelings out but when night fell, many men were seduced into the tree to act as food. Reluctantly they decided a full on attack was the only way to see victory. At this time the queen had to make a tough choice. Send in reinforcements and risk retaliation if the hive fell or stay her hoof and protect the capitol hive. Neither wanting her subject’s deaths, nor the possibility of the hive’s destruction, she sent orders to the south hive to send men to help them.
This order arrived but was never acted upon due to their own problems but that’s for latter. If the south hive had hooked up with the north hive there was no doubt they would have defended their position, maybe fall back or organize some kind of treaty. Sadly this was not to be as the ponies marched into the long weaving dark tunnels. This cave fighting has been described as hell, husks reaching out of the pitch darkness, changelings coming out of the walls themselves, nothing but a handful of torches for visibility, many groups found themselves surrounded and overrun, others wiped out in a matter of minutes after contact. Panicking, the ponies in command ordered a new plan to be implemented, to destroy the tree itself. With both ponies and changelings fighting in its body, explosives and fire magic was used to destroy the trees roots, the thing crashing down killing hundreds. The changelings that survived scattered leaving their husks behind who, without guidance, slowly awoken to their surroundings and were taken in by the ponies as they recovered. It was a dark day for both pony and changelings kind, though it could have been worse, god forbid how things would have ended if they just set the whole tree on fire.
These changelings returned to the capitol where they were consumed back into the fold. An envoy was sent out and a treaty was signed, Honeycomb would stay away from the jungles edges and the ponies will show no military actions within the jungle without the approval of the changeling queen. This treaty still stands todays, though changelings do move closer and closer to the edge as their hunger grows but in such a slow pace the ponies just don’t care. During this time the south hive had suffered a massive attack. Originally, when their hive was built they removed a tribe of jungle dogs as their camp had a perfect tree density to build a hive on. These dogs had actually united a bunch of other tribes to form a primitive army. The changelings and jungle dogs had a few battles in the jungle but were soon under attack at the hive itself. When orders to send changelings and husks to the north hive to help them, they ended up not acting on it as they were afraid if the jungle dogs attacked in force they would be overrun. Whether Honeycomb has more freedom or if the changeling in charge was just free is unknown. The destruction of the south hive was not overnight like the north hive, it was far slower the jungle dogs simply attacked over and over, causing some deaths before retreating back when the changelings organize to retaliate. In the end, it was not a massive blow but a thousand cuts that ended the south hive and giving up, the changelings and husks just left it to the dogs and retreated back to the capitol.
Today, Honeycomb is relatively peaceful where ponies are concerned, despite using husks they take ponies because they need food not to grow some kind of giant workforce like before and with the smaller population they don’t need that many of them either. Still, stallion or mare, ponies know to stay out of the deep jungle less a dancer drag you away, sex doesn’t matter all are seduced. Jungle dogs however have not lost their hatred for the changelings and while skirmishes are much more common, the odd battle does occur every few years. As a threat, just like hive Trapdoor, just stay out of their land and they will stay out of yours. A live and let live hive one would say.